Glass laminates utilized in the automotive, architectural, residential, institutional, decorative, safety and security industries are mostly assembled with poly(vinyl butyral) (“PVB”) adhesive films. Laminated glass is a high cost product in part because of the costs associated with PVB, complex processes required to laminate and careful transport and storage required due to low thermal properties and moisture sensitivity of PVB.
PVB absorbs water, loses plasticizers, reacts with glass adhesives and is only available in sheet form. Furthermore, plasticized PVB sheet tends to stick to itself (sometimes called “blocking”) at ambient temperatures typically encountered during storage before laminating and expensive precautions have been taken to prevent this. Many complexities, therefore, are encountered in the transportation and application of PVB for lamination.
Consequently, a need exists for simplification of the above issues by materials with better properties that are compatible with easier application processes. Such materials would constitute a significant breakthrough and improvement of the cost/performance ratio in laminated glass products and other laminates.